Castle Manor verdict: Good, but short of outstanding
Friday, 5th July 2013.
Castle Manor Academy’s first Ofsted has rated the school as ‘good’ in all areas.
Although the report has many good things to say about the academy, it represents a disappointment as the school had previously been graded ‘outstanding’.
The inspectors, who visited on June 19 and 20, have outlined why it has fallen short of ‘outstanding’ this time, and one of the reasons is standards of literacy.
The report says: “Standards of literacy are not high enough. This is a barrier to learning and students are not yet achieving at the highest levels that they are capable of over a sustained period.”
Two other areas of shortfall are listed. Teachers write comments in students’ books to help them to progress but do not always give them opportunities to respond to them, and there are not enough opportunities for students to work independently and more able students do not always have work that is sufficiently challenging.
Nevertheless the report stresses that Castle Manor is a good school. It points out that many students join the academy with levels of attainment that are below average.
It says students come to the academy with literacy and communication skills that are below those expected at their age and this is a barrier to learning for some students. The academy has a new literacy policy but it is too early to say whether it has been fully effective.
The quality of teaching is almost always good or better and good progress is made generally. Students’ behavior is good.
The report lists what needs to be done:
To increase the proportion of outstanding teaching by
− giving students more opportunities to work independently and in small groups;
− helping students to reflect upon their own work and that of others;
− matching tasks closely to students’ needs, especially for the most able.
To raise standards in literacy and communication by:
− giving students more and better opportunities to develop a love of reading;
− improving students’ writing and presentation skills; and
To help students to make the best use of the comments that teachers write in their books when they mark them.
Although the report has many good things to say about the academy, it represents a disappointment as the school had previously been graded ‘outstanding’.
The inspectors, who visited on June 19 and 20, have outlined why it has fallen short of ‘outstanding’ this time, and one of the reasons is standards of literacy.
The report says: “Standards of literacy are not high enough. This is a barrier to learning and students are not yet achieving at the highest levels that they are capable of over a sustained period.”
Two other areas of shortfall are listed. Teachers write comments in students’ books to help them to progress but do not always give them opportunities to respond to them, and there are not enough opportunities for students to work independently and more able students do not always have work that is sufficiently challenging.
Nevertheless the report stresses that Castle Manor is a good school. It points out that many students join the academy with levels of attainment that are below average.
It says students come to the academy with literacy and communication skills that are below those expected at their age and this is a barrier to learning for some students. The academy has a new literacy policy but it is too early to say whether it has been fully effective.
The quality of teaching is almost always good or better and good progress is made generally. Students’ behavior is good.
The report lists what needs to be done:
To increase the proportion of outstanding teaching by
− giving students more opportunities to work independently and in small groups;
− helping students to reflect upon their own work and that of others;
− matching tasks closely to students’ needs, especially for the most able.
To raise standards in literacy and communication by:
− giving students more and better opportunities to develop a love of reading;
− improving students’ writing and presentation skills; and
To help students to make the best use of the comments that teachers write in their books when they mark them.
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